No sympathy whatsoever

I have none for Theresa and Joe Guidice, who are going to prison for tax fraud -- she for 15 months, he for 41.  So what?  They broke the law and now have to pay for it. 

Hey, folks, this isn't Italy.  Or Greece.  Or Spain.....where citizens break the law all the time and take great pride in fleecing people and evading tax.  Why do you think those countries are in such a mess?  They steal from themselves by not paying taxes -- another of my favourite hobby horses.  Pay your taxes, pay your taxes, pay your taxes.  That's my mantra.  What kills me is how unjust they think it all is.  "We're family, we stick together no matter what," say all the reprobates on the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' debacle.  Against my better judgement, I watch now and then -- mainly to try and figure out how they get those monstrous false eyelashes to stay on.  I still can't.

Having been raised in an honest, law-abiding, Protestant family, I cannot wrap my brain around how this culture gives rise to the mentality that being a criminal is just fine, thank you very much?  Had I done anything such as this, my own mother would have turned me in.  After paying at least a $million in taxes over their lives, my parents still fretted about whether they were paying their share.  "Who is paying for my care," said my dying mother in the hospice she finally entered.  "Don't worry," I replied.  "You have paid for it many times over."  Nonetheless, I made a very generous donation to The Maycourt to cover her needs and then some.

Next time you visit a restaurant, be in Chinese, Italian, Greek or.....whatever.....pay at the cash register and see if the drawer is open when you pay.  If it is, the proprietors are cheating on their taxes.  You'd be surprised at how often this occurs.  They take your money, give you change, but don't ring it in.  Not to come down inordinately hard on ethnic cultures, but they do not like to pay taxes.  Just a fact and a badge of courage.  And ditto, by the way, for everyone else operating in the booming underground economy.  I refuse to play.

The kicker is that Joe Guidice has just realized he does not have American citizenship.  I guess his parents were so devoted to Italy they neglected to obtain proper papers for him.  Oops!  He will probably be deported after serving his sentence.  All very sad for his little daughters. 

But don't worry, the American system will look after them.